At the gallows
by Stylus of Gold
Summary: What if Demetheus had exalted later in life, under entirely different circumstances? This is the story of an exalt plagued by failure and hounded by guilt, told by the man himself as he stands at the gallows of his own accord.


So you, the people I jus' helped, don't care what my name is, eh? Just wanna see me 'ang? Name's Demetheus. I s'pose you know what I am by now, watching me an' all. I s'pose you wanna kill me an' I 'ardly blame you for wantin' to. But could you gimme a minute to tell you my story 'fore you pull that lever?

Thank you. I knew you'd wanna hear my story, 'specially after I helped you out there, after I came quietly. Didn't have to do it, y'know. Coulda killed half o' your guards an' gotten out, but then what would I'ave accomplished?

Well sorry I don't speak Riverspeak too good, see I'm from Chiaroscuro.

Well, if your gonna keep complainin' I'll just stop talking an' you can just pull that lever'n be done with it.

Didn't think so.

So, if you'll jus' listen, I'll tell you my story.

'Kay, so lemme start at the begginnin'. I never knew my parents, but my dad left me with a gift: my strength. I've always been the strongest, the biggest an' the toughest. A' first, it was enough just ta' survive. Scrounge a bit 'ere, steal a bit there, get into a few scraps, that sorta thing. Got inna li'l gang with a couple other boys, but that din' last long.

I decided when I was but a boy that I was gonna do somethin' good with my strength. Use it to 'elp people. To protect people. But that's 'ard, y'know? It's easier, 'ell of a lot easier, to use your strength to 'elp yourself. All of you know that, right? Easier to do it for yourself than to do it for others? Well I tried doin'it for others, but I just couldn't find people who needed me, who trusted a thug like me to help them without robbin' them, so I started 'elpin' myself. Got into barfights, I was the best. Beatin' a man down with fist or bot'le, I felt alive. It was all good fun, I mean, you drink a li'l, you fight a li'l, nothin' really lost but maybe a couple'a teeth.

Then came the prizefights. Fought with the best, gave as good as I got, won some, lost some, got better. Got stronger. Started winnin' more, soon no-one could beat me. I was a legend in the bare-knuckle ring. But then came the day I fought Golden Raptor, a man from Gem.

That day, I killed a man. Was an accident, but it still haunts me for the rest o' my life. One moment, we were fightin' with all we got, next, boom. 'E was out, I'd won, then… then they looked at 'im and 'e was dead.

I skipped town, started drinkin'. Tryin' to forget. I got into more an' more fights, thought I'd finally gotten Golden Raptor be'ind me when I fought a man by the name o' Skaravel, smashed his head into the floor, jus' like 'e did to me, but tha' was it. 'E was dead. My life became 'ell. It's no shame, they told me, but I knew better. I'd decided when I was but a boy that I'd use my strength for others, not just myself. And what'd I done? I'd killed two men with it. Ne'er saved anyone.

Well, I tried to stop fightin', but it was all I knew. I got older. Got slower. Started losin' more. Started drinkin' more. I knew I'd drink myself to death within a year, die unmourned, not 'avin' accomplished anythin' with my life. An' I didn't care. I jus' wanted to kill the pain, die drunk, die painlessly, not 'ave to live with myself an' what I'd done cuz that would've been the cruelest thing anyone coulda done to me.

Then one day I'm dead drunk, lyin' on the floor 'round one in the mornin' an' this dragon-blood starts comin' onto a woman, one o' the barmaids. She turns 'im down, but 'e's not about to take no for an answer.

'Ey, what're'ya doin'? I'm only tellin' the truth! Dragon-bloods can be scum too, believe it or not. Why would I lie to you 'bout that after tellin' you about me? Why would I tell you how much of a failure I was an' then lie 'bout other people? If I wanted to avoid shame I wouldn't'a told you this story. I jus' wanna get all this off my chest before I go, okay?

Thank you. Now, where was I?

Right right right. No-one was doin' nothin' 'bout it, so I got up and I says to 'im "Look 'ere, she said no, and I'm not gonna let you force 'er into nothin'."  
I knew I was probably gonna die there, but what the 'ell? Better die protectin' someone with my strength, doin' what I wanted to do since I was a li'l boy, than drink myself to death. Well, I go to stop 'im, but I'm so 'ammered I slip and fall and can't get up. I lie there as he chases after 'er, grabs 'er, an' then this voice whispers into my ear. I've 'eard that for others it's a long temptation, an endless torment, but not for me.

For me it was jus' five words: "Everyone deserves a second chance."  
I took it. Full of power and rage, I got up right as 'e grabbed 'er an' then I grabbed 'im by the scruff of his coat an' I says to 'im "I told you, I'm not gonna let you force 'er into nothin'!"

I pounded the livin' daylights outa him in thirty seconds. Never felt no remorse for it, cuz I was finally doin' what I was born to do: I was usin' my strength to protect others. That was when the demon who'd whispered to me in the first place trapped me in this cocoon an' I guess I must've been in there for a while cuz by the time I was out I was in 'ell. Someone in my 'ead was arguing with someone else 'bout partly exaltin' me 'fore I'd been in the… the… chrys'lis grotesque, I think is what 'e said?

Anyway, demons tried to get me to work for 'em, called me a green sun prince, told me I was a… a… a "peer of 'ell", whatever that means, but I wasn't gonna 'elp them with their crazy schemes. I ran out into the desert, but that's where I'm from, see? So I didn't get lost, I jus' kept on goin' 'till a couple o' scorpion demons got me, but I smashed their 'eads together an' kept runnin' 'till I got back to Creation.

Now I wander 'round, 'elp people in need like you guys, an' keep movin' cuz I get these rages where I can't stop myself, see? This voice keeps tellin' me to kill some punk called Lytek, but I dunno who that is an' I'm not 'bout to listen to demons inside me, whether they come from a bottle or from 'ell!

Anyways, I get that you fear me, I get that you wanna see me 'ang an' I guess you know the rest o' the story already, so I'll jus' end it there an' you can 'ang me.

Blaaargh! Aaagh! Aa–

Thanks for cuttin' me down, kid. Thank you all. Anyways, I gotta move. World's full o' troubles and I'm only one man, demons inside and out catchin' up to me every day, but I'm gonna solve as many o' those problems as I can 'till they finally run me down.

Goodbye.


End file.
